Five political prisoners in southwest Iran face execution, rights group says

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld death sentences against five political prisoners held in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, in southwest Iran, the Karun Human Rights Organization said.

The rights group said the five prisoners were at imminent risk of execution after trials it said were marked by denial of access to independent lawyers, violations of defendants’ rights and reliance on “forced confessions.”

The group named the prisoners as Masoud Jamei, Alireza Mordasi, also known as Hamidavi, Farshad Etemadi-Far, Hassan Mosallavi (Torfi), and Reza Abdali, also known as Daghaghleh.

It said Jamei, Mordasi and Etemadi-Far were tried last year on charges including “corruption on earth,” “membership in rebel groups opposed to the Islamic Republic,” “propaganda against the system” and “assembly and collusion.”

Mosallavi, a 38-year-old Arab civil and cultural activist detained since 2022, was sentenced to death in absentia on charges of “waging war against God” and “membership in Arab groups opposed to the Islamic Republic,” the organization said.

Abdali, a 35-year-old political prisoner, was given a death sentence and a 15-year prison term on a charge of “contact with organizations outside the country,” the group said.

The Karun Human Rights Organization called for urgent international action to stop the executions.